Who Knew????

When I was a little girl my brother and I would play endlessly....my brother with his train set and I would always make a farm for the train to go by.

I would dream that someday I would have a farm just like this, where animals played together in harmony. This week I got to visit my dream and it was called "Happy Acres".

This is "Doc"....the hospitality KING of the Apple Farm. He has become a dear friend and now organizes all day bus trips to the most wonderful sites on the Central Coast.

He has asked us many times to join him on one of his excursions. We never seem to make enough time for an all day event, but he talked us into meeting him at one of his favorite destinations...and now it is our favorite too.

Doc introduced me to "Patty". She is the cutest baby goat born on St. Patrick's Day. I think she weighed as much as our kitty!

We got to feed the goats in the pasture. Stephanie ( who runs the farm) yelled out "who fed the white goat".....and worrying that I did something wrong I quietly told her it was me.

She said that it was the first time that she had come to the gate...usually very shy. So she asked me my name and told me that since she hadn't been named yet she is now officially known as ANNIE!!!!

I have a goat named after ME....now there is an unusual honor.

There is a sequence of events that I was taught about goat farming. You feed the goats....

....you milk the goats ( which I never did master, but Jim did).

The goat milk is pasteurized, placed into "Cheese Cloth" and it becomes cheese. See I CAN be a farm girl!!!

Then you mix in some yummy ingredients ( sun dried tomatoes and olives) and you have your evening snack. I LOVE farming!

Jim and I had so much fun and mostly because Stephanie made it so joyous.

I got to enter the stall and pet a two week old miniature horse, cuddle goats and load up on goat soaps and other products in her delightful farm stand.

So....if you are ever in the area of Templeton on the Central Coast, be sure to visit "Happy Acres". It really is the farm of my little girl dreams.